With rookie Isaiah Burse now on the waiver wire, the Denver Broncos will have slot receiver Wes Welker serve as their primary punt returner Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

Welker has the most experience as he returned punts for the Miami Dolphins from 2004-06, and regularly for the New England Patriots from 2007-2009 and again in 2012. He had 10 punt returns for the Broncos last season.

Connor Barth kicked five field goals in the Broncos’ 29-16 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 30, 2014. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sand paper couldn’t wipe the smile off Connor Barth’s face. Sunday wasn’t his first NFL game. But it was his first with his new team. Following the Broncos’ worst special teams performance of the season, Barth made a memorable first impression, tying a franchise record with five field goals in Denver’s 29-16 trouncing of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jason Elam last accomplished the feat in October 2002. Barth wears No. 1, in part, because he grew up idolizing the Broncos great.

New England lists three leading vote-getters: tight end Rob Gronkowski, kicker Stephen Gostkowski and special teamer Matt Slater.

Fan voting runs online at NFL.com through Dec. 15. The Pro Bowl players are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third toward determining the 88 All-Star players who will be eligible for the Pro Bowl Draft. NFL players and coaches will cast their votes on Dec. 19.

The Pro Bowl players will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 23 and assigned to teams through a draft, the second year of the process of an “unconferenced” game. The game is set for Jan. 25, 2015, from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

BRONCOS CONFIDENT THEY CLOSED THE GAP WITH SEAHAWKS
The Broncos addressed needs, comparing favorably to AFC power New England and to NFC beast Seattle, but not to San Francisco. Denver filled a void in the first round without panicking. If cornerback Bradley Roby matures into an impact player by December, Denver’s draft will be a success. The Broncos need Roby to contribute as a rookie because of Chris Harris’ recovery from knee surgery and Aqib Talib’s history of injuries.—Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post

BROCK OSWEILER SET TO GRADUATE FROM ARIZONA STATE
On Monday morning, Osweiler worked out with the Broncos as their backup quarterback. Meeting, drills and lining up the No. 2 offense to practice plays against “air” or no defense. Then weights, conditioning, shower and fly out to Phoenix where thanks to taking 21 credit hours online in his past two offseasons with the Broncos, Osweiler will walk in the Arizona State commencement ceremony Monday night in Tempe. His degree is in interdisciplinary studies, which is a 50-50 split of political science and sociology.—Mike Klis, The Denver Post

NATE IRVING IS STARTING MIDDLE LINEBACKER; EMMANUEL SANDERS SIGNS
Denver drafted LSU’s Lamin Barrow in the fifth round, but he’s a weakside linebacker trying to grow into a middle man and probably will need at least one year on special teams. And so middle linebacker belongs to Irving. He played well in relief of Von Miller at strongside linebacker last year. Irving needs to win the two-down “Mike” role for the Broncos this year.

The Broncos signed free-agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a three-year, $15 million contract and followed that by drafting large-size wideout Cody Latimer, a second-round pick who will get a four-year contract.—Mike Klis, The Denver PostRead more…

Broncos kicker Matt Prater celebrates after his record 64-yard field goal. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

After hitting an NFL-record 64-yard field goal at the end of the first half of Sunday’s game, Matt Prater has been recognized by the NFL as the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Prater’s field goal broke the record of 63 yards, held by David Akers, Tom Dempsey, Jason Elam and Sebastian Janikowski. Including Prater’s, three of the five longest field goals in NFL history have been kicked in Denver’s altitude.

Prater also led all players with 15 points scored in Week 14, going 3-of-3 on field goal attempts and 6-of-6 on extra point attempts.

Returner Trindon Holliday was also recognized as AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 2.

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) stands on the sideline after the New England Patriots recovered the ball during a punt Sunday night in overtime. The Broncos’ Tony Carter had the punt hit off his leg, and the Patriots recovered the ball. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

I know some Broncos fans might be directing anger at Tony Carter for running into the punt that decided the game Sunday night in Foxborough, Mass.

But here’s a guy who has seldom played in recent weeks. He’s the second-smallest guy on the team (Trindon Holliday). Yet when faced with explaining his miscue to the press, Carter handled it professionally. He talked to every reporter Sunday night.

“I was blocking my guy and trying to set up a return for Wes (Welker),” Carter told me in front of his locker. “At the last second I heard the ‘Peter’ call.”

The “Peter” call means the punt is short and everybody should get out of the way.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Colts punter Pat McAfee, who laid a hard hit on Trindon Holliday during a return in Sunday’s game, will not be fined by the NFL.

There was some speculation that McAfee’s wallet might take a hit because his blow to Holliday involved some helmet-to-helmet contact, but in the end, that’s not how the NFL saw it. Holliday was not a defenseless receiver, and McAfee’s hit did appear to be clean.

It probably didn’t help that Holliday is 5-foot-5 and weighs about 170 pounds.

Linebacker Steven Johnson celebrates after blocking an Eagles punt and returning it for a touchdown on Sept. 29. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Many a casual Broncos fan might not even have heard of linebacker Steven Johnson until Sunday, when he blocked an Eagles punt and returned it for a touchdown, but Johnson himself is ready to get on with things after his big score.

The linebacker, who’s played primarily on special teams, told me on Wednesday that after the game he watched tape of the return over and over just to get it out of his system and become bored with it. He wants to move on and continue to expand his role, he said, and with Danny Trevathan’s Wednesday knee injury — fortunately for the Broncos, MRIs came back negative — Johnson might just get that chance.

Broncos wide receiver Trindon Holliday was named the AFC’s special teams player of the week on Wednesday, the team announced. Holliday scored an 81-yard touchdown on a punt return during Sunday’s game against the Giants, and he finished the afternoon with 121 yards on punt returns.

With Sunday’s touchdown, Holliday now has five special-teams return scores in just 19 career games. He trails just Rick Upchurch for the most special-teams return scores in Broncos history.

Holliday also was recognized with this same honor during Week 9 of 2012, and this recognition marks the 24th time a Bronco has been named AFC special teams player of the week.

Broncos punt returner Jim Leonhard likely will replace injured starter Trindon Holliday (listed as doubtful with an ankle injury) in those duties Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High against Kansas City.

Leonhard muffed a punt last weekend in the home win over Cleveland, as did Holliday. Fortunately for the Broncos, both were recovered by the home team. Cleveland’s Joshua Cribbs wasn’t as fortunate because the Broncos recovered his muff and it led to a Denver touchdown.

Leonhard said returners battled swriling winds last Sunday.

“Sometimes it looks nice in the stadium, but you don’t know what going on, wind-wise,” Leonhard said Friday. “Obviously, it’s frustrating. You never want to drop one.

“But if you have three different returners drop one in the same game, you kind of assume that something’s going on up there a little goofy.”

Broncos coach John Fox shrugged off any notion that muffed punts can become contagious.

“I think it’s a hard skill, no doubt,” Fox said Friday. “It’s part of the game … You get conditions, whether it’s wind or some kind of wetness on the football, it can be problematic.”

The newest Bronco gets to keep his job, despite a mistake early in Monday’s game in San Diego.

Trindon Holliday, claimed off waivers from Houston on Thursday, fumbled his first chance at returning a punt for the Broncos after first calling for a fair catch.

With a Charger quickly closing in, Holliday let the ball him and then he lost it in the bottom of a pile of special teamers.

So, John Fox was asked Tuesday afternoon, would Holliday get another shot?

“Oh yeah,” Fox said. “In defense of him, we could have done a better job of vicing the gunner in that situation. Their guy pushed our guy into him a little bit. That’s why it wasn’t a foul. It wasn’t all his fault.”

Holliday returned two punts later on Monday for a total of 12 yards. Two others were downed without a return.

SPORTS AUTHORITY FIELD AT MILE HIGH — With only five days left until the Broncos set their 53-man roster, the team has yet to figure out who will be its primary kickoff and punt returners.

It’s a position battle to watch today as the Broncos host the 49ers in the third preseason game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Only two players have returned a punt for the Broncos’ this preseason — cornerbacks Syd’Quan Thompson and Tony Carter. Each has fielded one punt and fair caught another. Three players have returned a kickoff — wide receivers Andre Caldwell, Matt Willis and Omar Bolden.

Eric Decker (punt return) and Lance Ball (kickoff return) are atop the depth chart for the return roles but neither player has lined up there this preseason.

SPORTS AUTHORITY FIELD AT MILE HIGH — In three years in the NFL, David Bruton has never gotten a hand on a punt.

Saturday night in the Broncos’ preseason game against Seattle, the Broncos’ special teams ace nearly blocked two. He also had two tackles on special teams, including a solo open-field stop after the Broncos’ first punt.

“It definitely adds to momentum and to my resume. I’m trying to show that I’m valuable to the Broncos,” Bruton said.

Matt Prater got cursed out by Jay Cutler after missing a second field goal against the Raiders in 2008. Then he nearly got cut by Mike Shanahan.

When the Broncos signed kicker Matt Prater to a new four-year, $13 million deal Monday, it was a testament to how far Prater has come in the NFL.

After all, he had been released by three different teams — Lions, Dolphins and Falcons — before he even arrived in Denver late in the 2007 season and there was a moment in the 2008 season when then-head coach Mike Shanahan was talking about bringing in a replacement if Prater missed any more gameday kicks.

With the Broncos poised to make three picks Friday in the NFL draft, here is a look at the player pool they have to choose from as they work through the draft’s second day.

At No. 36 — the fourth pick of the day — they will likely be looking at a pool of candidates that could include Connecticut defensive tackle Kendall Reyes, Stanford tight end Coby Fleener and Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill. Fleener and Hill, in particular, may already be gone having carried first-round grades from most teams into this draft.

The Rams, in particular, who will pick at No. 33, are on the hunt for a wide receiver and had A.J. Jenkins targeted in that spot, but Jenkins went in the first round Thursday night. Fleener is likely the best player on the board for some teams when they open things up today and if he were there when the Broncos were on the clock he would certainly test the team’s best-player-available mantra there.

LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle, who the Giants considered with the No. 32 pick Thursday night, is also still available and is one of the more polished receivers on the board.

In the defensive front Reye is an athletic player who has tested better in workouts than he played at times in his career with the Huskies. But he has flashed plenty of potential and performed well at the Senior Bowl, winning many 1-on-1 battles with some of the best offensive linemen on this draft board during the practice week in Mobile, Ala.

Clemson’s Brandon Thompson is also a candidate in the second round as well and projects into either a nose tackle in a 3-4 or an interior anchor in a 4-3 like the Broncos play. Thompson was one of the strongest players on his team.

The Broncos figure to take a hard look at ASU quarterback Brock Osweiler today too and will come out of this draft with a developmental passer. At cornerback Central Florida’s Josh Robinson is worthy of a second-round pick as is Georgia cornerback Brandon Boykin. Boykin could also give the Broncos a potential top-shelf returner.

And at linebacker Miami’s Sean Spence and Nebraska’s Lavonte David have the kind of instincts and athleticism to fit the Broncos’ scheme. Spence is one of the most savvy players on the board while David is a non-stop, high effort player. Utah State’s Bobby Wagner deserves a look as well.

Miami of Ohio guard Brandon Brooks, a massive prospect at 346 pounds who also ran a 4.99 40-yard dash at his pro day, is just the kind of power player head coach John Fox likes in the Broncos front as well.

Mike Klis has been with The Denver Post since 1998, after working 13 years with the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Major League Baseball was Klis' initial passion. He started covering the Colorado Rockies after Coors Field was approved for construction in August 1990.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times. She has reported regularly on the Broncos since joining the staff.

A published author and award-winning journalist, Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. He previously worked on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winners of two Pulitzer Prizes for their Hurricane Katrina coverage.